I finally gotten all the track for my 21 inch deep shelf layout, and put it on the baseboard with noch ballasted foam underlay. it has been tested extensively and it works great, but nothing is glued or nailed down yet. what my question is, what do i do next? do i nail down the track and foam, start on the scenery or start drilling holes for all the electrical wires?i plan on using plaster impregnated fabric for the small hills and ditches. is that a good way to go? any suggestions welcome.
the general consensus here for attaching roadbed to foam is a thin layer of latex caulk (the cheapest you can find). Same goes for attaching the track to the roadbed.
If Im understanding you correctly, you are thinking about nailing the foam to the benchwork - an easier alternative is to buy foam save adhesive (like Liquid Nails, or the equivalent) and put a bead of that along the top of your benchwork, and then lay the foam down…
How has it been tested without the electrial wires in place? Generally scenery is the very last thing to do. Track should be laid and all electrical should be done and tested before starting scenery.
Most people don’t nail track down anymore but use some sort of adhesive.
Latex caulk is my choice. Then add electric. Then retest the track. Save the scenery around the track until it passes all the tests. Do some other scenery first to scratch that itch.
If you nail any (any you will) be sure not to put the hails in so far as to indent the ties in that it will throw the rails out of gauge.
I used a mixture of plaster-impregnated cloth, expanding foam gapfiller and polystyrene chunks and sheets for my landscape. Of those, the easiest to modify has been the expanding foam gapfiller, but it’s spongey inside and needs to be covered with modelling clay once it’s cut. I’ve found it very awkward to reshape my plastered cloth once it’s set, so in future I’ll be very sure that I know what arrangement I want before I start.
Mike